On February 10, 1962 at around 8:50 a . Upon opening the coin a square of microfilm was revealed. At 10:00 p.m., they saw the lights go on in Goldfus studio, and a man was observed moving in the room. It felt lighter than an ordinary nickel. In Abel v. United States, the United States Supreme Court upheld his conviction by a vote of 5-4. End of preview. Encouraging their son's love of music, Fisher's parents gave him piano lessons; he also learned to play the guitar. In one of the dead drops mentioned by Hayhanena hole in a set of cement steps in Prospect ParkFBI agents found a hollowed-out bolt. However, at the first session, the summit collapsed after President Dwight D. Eisenhower refused to apologize to Khrushchev for the U-2 incident. [28] Members of the network had stopped cooperating after postwar security was tightened at Los Alamos. Roughly halfway through his journey, he was shot down over Sverdlovsk in the Ural Mountains. While the surveillance continued at 252 Fulton Street, other FBI agents made daily checks on the dead drops that Hayhanen stated he and Mark had used. How did the Supreme Court rule in Rudolf Abel's Case? He was released in 1962, however, in exchange for the Soviet spy Rudolf Abel. Yet, the relentless search to identify the person who had brought the hollow nickel to New York, as well as the person for whom the coded message was intended, continued. However the report never arrived. Svirin had been in and out of the United States on several occasions between 1939 and 1956. It is an absolute necessity. During World War II, he again trained radio operators for clandestine work behind German lines. On July 3, 1951, Hayhanenthen living in Turku, Finlandvisited the United States Legation in Helsinki. On February 10, 1962 it was exchanged in Berlin. Fisher was aware of the "tail" but, as he had no passport to leave the country, he devised a plan to be used upon his capture. This false build up, of course, was merely part of Hayhanens preparation for a new espionage assignment. Among the government witnesses to testify against him was his former trusted espionage assistant, Lieutenant Colonel Reino Hayhanen. As the spies waited, negotiators talked in the center of the bridge where a white line divided East from West. As the years passed, memories of the Maki family gradually began to fade, and all but possibly two or three old time residents of Enaville, Idaho, forgot that there has ever been a Maki family in that area. The detective, in turn, gave the coin to the FBI. From the fall of 1952 until early in 1954, he said, Mikhail served as his espionage superior in New York. His helper, deployed to the USA began to demonstrate signs of instability and nervousness. Hayhanen was born near Leningrad on May 14, 1920. He had arrived in the United States in October 1916 and became a naturalized American citizen at Grand Rapids, Michigan on December 30, 1930. Why does the Government what James Donovan to negotiate the Trade? He died in 1971. Try again Codenamed "VIK", Hyhnen arrived in New York on the RMS Queen Mary, under the alias Eugene Nikolai Maki. He was given a modest pension and in 1968 published KGB-approved memoirs. On June 21, 1957, he was arrested by the FBI, and on October 25, 1957, a federal district court in Brooklyn found him guilty of espionage, relying in part on testimony by Soviet Lieutenant Colonel Reino Hayhanen, who had defected to the West and who stated that he had been Abel's chief coconspirator in the United States. Verified answer. Nearly 10 years later, Mark was to admit that he had used Kayotis passport during the fall of 1948 in booking passage aboard an ocean liner from LeHavre, France, to Canada. There is absolutely no doubt about it. Months of determined probing by the FBIs scientists and investigative staff had led merely to one blind alley after another. He moved to Russia in the 1920s, and served in the Soviet military before undertaking foreign service as a radio operator in Soviet intelligence in the late 1920s and early 30s. The information which Hayhanen furnished to U.S. officials in Paris, France, in May 1957, was immediately checked. [46] On 11 May, the CIA returned him to the United States and handed him over to the FBI. [29], In 1950, Fisher's illegal residency was endangered by the arrest of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, for whom Lona Cohen had been a courier. Kitty Harris, a former pupil of Fisher's, had spent a year in Santa Fe during the war, where she passed secrets from physicists to couriers. Early in May 1957, he telephoned the United States Embassy in Paris and subsequently arrived at the embassy to be interviewed. I have a sinus condition.. "That Russian spy" was Rudolf Ivanovich Abel, who less than two weeks earlier had been indicted by a Brooklyn grand jury. Since he was posing as an artist and photographer, nobody questioned his irregular working hours and frequent disappearances. His ashes were interred at the Donskoye Cemetery under his real name; next to Konon Molody, who had died the previous year. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. By June 3, 1957, the full text of the microphotograph was known. [20] That year he married Elena Lebedeva, a harp student at Moscow Conservatoire. Additionally, the kind of typewriter which had been used in preparing the coded message could not be identified. He eventually became fluent in several languages and developed a love for radio communications. [53] During this period Fisher stated that his "real" name was Rudolf Ivanovich Abel and that he was a Soviet citizen, although he refused to discuss his intelligence activities. FOR ORGANIZATION OF COVER, WE GAVE INSTRUCTIONS TO TRANSMIT TO YOU THREE THOUSAND IN LOCAL (CURRENCY). During this period, FBI agents discreetly tied together the loose ends of the investigation, matters which had to be resolved before this Russian intelligence officer could be taken into custody. Thus, Hayhanen initially provided the FBI with little useful information. [32][69], After his return to Moscow, Fisher was employed by the Illegals Directorate of the KGB's First Chief Directorate, giving speeches and lecturing school children on intelligence work, but became increasingly disillusioned. Less than three years later, on May 1, 1960, Francis Gary Powers took off from Peshawar, Pakistan, at the controls of an ultra-sophisticated Lockheed U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft. The name "Rudolf Ivanovich Abel" was that of a deceased friend and a KGB colonel; Fisher knew as soon as The Centre saw the name Abel on the front pages of American newspapers they would realize he had been captured. From 1953 to 1957, continuing efforts were made to solve the mystery of the hollow coin. According to Genesis, Abel, a shepherd, offered the Lord the firstborn of his flock. Thanks to information offered by Hyhnen, Fisher was tracked down and arrested at the Latham Hotel in Manhattan. display. ACCORDING TO YOUR REQUEST, WE WILL TRANSMIT THE FORMULA FOR THE PREPARATION OF SOFT FILM AND NEWS SEPARATELY, TOGETHER WITH (YOUR) MOTHERS LETTER.4. The exchange took place on the Glienicke Bridge that linked West Berlin with Potsdam, which became famous during the Cold War as the "Bridge of Spies". On February 10, 1962, Rudolf Invanovich Abel was exchanged for the American U-2 pilot, Francis Gary Powers, who was a prisoner of the Soviet Union. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. WE CONGRATULATE YOU ON A SAFE ARRIVAL. Yes, they remembered Jimmy; but, if either had given him a hollow nickel, it was entirely unintentional. The Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel, has written a note to James B. Donovan, his courtappointed defender in a 1957 espionage trial . Should he be inside or outside? In 1962, he was released to the Soviet Union in exchange for captured U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers. The action remained secret until it was successfully completed. business math. An official website of the United States government. IT IS TOO EARLY TO SEND YOU THE GAMMAS. Even his wife knew him only as Eugene Maki, so carefully did he cover his previous life. He admitted his first Soviet contact in New York had been "MIKHAIL" and upon being shown a series of photographs of Soviet officials identified "MIKHAIL" as Mikhail Svirin. Fisher decided that he would not turn traitor as Hyhnen had done because he still trusted the KGB and he knew that if he cooperated with the FBI, he would not see his wife and daughter again. Rudolf Abel was the most important Soviet agent the FBI ever got on the net. Corrections? On the evening of Monday, June 22, 1953, a delivery boy for the Brooklyn Eagle knocked on the door of one of his customers in the apartment building at 3403 Foster Avenue in Brooklyn. After their introduction at this theater, Hayhanen and Mark held frequent meetings in Prospect Park, on crowded streets, and in other inconspicuous places in the area of Greater New York. [8][6] Fisher's father, a revolutionary activist, taught and agitated with Vladimir Lenin at Saint Petersburg Technological Institute. One of the nations most fascinatingand ultimately significantspy cases began in the summer of 1953, when a Brooklyn newspaper boy dropped a nickel he had just earned. All Rights Reserved. However, prior to opening the coin Hyhnen had misplaced it, either buying a newspaper with it or using it as a subway token. The newsboy quickly counted the coins in his pocket. Using the alias Emil Goldfus, he set up an artist's studio. The longtime intelligence operative died in Moscow in 1971, his story later revived in the 2015 movie Bridge of Spies. The proprietors of novelty stores and related business establishments in the New York vicinity were contacted. Fisher was born and grew up in Newcastle upon Tyne in the North of England in the United Kingdom to Russian migr parents. In examining the nickel, agents of the FBIs New York Office noted that the microphotograph appeared to portray nothing more then ten columns of typewritten numbers. The agents long hours of patience were rewarded on the night of June 13, 1957. [6], Fisher and his brother, Henry,[11] won scholarships to Whitley Bay High School and Monkseaton High School. [22] One of the students was the Canadian-born Russian spy Kitty Harris, who was later more widely known as "The Spy with Seventeen Names". Among the tenants was one Emil R. Goldfus, a photographer who had operated a studio on the fifth floor since January, 1954and who also had formerly rented a fifth-floor storage room there. [43] Fisher checked his drop points only to find messages several months old, while Hyhnen's radio transmissions had routinely been sent from the same location using incorrect radio frequencies. [70] Fisher, who was a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer on 15 November 1971. She disappeared for a moment, then returned with a purse in her hand. [45] Escape was complicated because, if "MARK" had been compromised by Hyhnen, Fisher's other identities could have been compromised as well. Donovan had played an important role in the negotiations that led to the swap. Why, weve never seen a hollow coinor, for that matter, even heard of one before.. Letters subsequently received from him indicated that he was in a Lithuanian hospital. He was given a modest pension and in 1968 published KGB-approved memoirs. Abel, in the Old Testament, second son of Adam and Eve, who was slain by his older brother, Cain (Genesis 4:1-16). They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. The newsboy rested this coin, a nickel, on the middle finger of his hand. The newsboy accidentally dropped the nickel and it broke in half, revealing a microphotograph containing a series of numbers. His mother also was American born, but his father had immigrated to the United States from Finland in 1905. The hollow nickel found by the Brooklyn newspaper boy, The coded message contained in the hollow nickel. If thats `Mark, hell return, they correctly surmised. Powers, a CIA-employed pilot, was to fly over some 2,000 miles of Soviet territory to Bodo military airfield in Norway, collecting intelligence information en route. Abel v. United States. The real Andrew Kayotis was Lithuanian born and had become an American citizen after migrating to the United States. Two separate coins obviously had been used in making this trick 50 Markka piece. A lock () or https:// means you've safely connected to the .gov website. Abel returned to Moscow, where he was forced into retirement by the KGB, who feared that during his five years of captivity U.S. authorities had convinced him to become a double agent. The U.S. government then used Abel to secure the release of Powers, whose Lockheed U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft had been forced down near Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg), in the central Soviet Union, on May 1, 1960. [15][16] Though Fisher qualified for university, the costs prohibited him from attending. Shortly afterward, when U.S. jet pilot Francis Gary Powers was captured in Soviet territory, the idea of swapping Powers for Fisher gained steam. After learning of Hayhanens defection, Abel fled to Florida, where he remained underground until June, when he felt it was safe to return to New York. On June 15, a photograph of Goldfus which the FBI took with a hidden camera was shown to Hayhanen. Rudolf Ivanovich Abel (Russian: ), real name William August Fisher (11 July 1903 15 November 1971), was a Soviet intelligence officer. WE WISH YOU SUCCESS. [7] While living in the United Kingdom, Fisher's father, a keen Bolshevik, took part in gunrunning, shipping arms from northeast England to Russia's Baltic coast. Fisher could not leave the country as Martin Collins, Emil Goldfus, or even the long-forgotten Andrew Kayotis. You can navigate days by using left and right arrows. [48] The Canadian Communist Party succeeded in obtaining a new passport for Fisher in the name of Robert Callan. He is generally better known by the alias, Rudolf Abel, which he adopted on his arrest.His last name is sometimes given as Fischer; his patronymic is sometimes less exactly transliterated as Genrikovich. The Mystery Novelist Who Committed a Real Murder, Boston Marathon Bombings Survivors, 10 Years Later, A Complete Timeline of Adnan Syeds Trial, Release, The Siege at Waco, In the Words of Who Was There, Ted Bundy Maybe Murdered Dozens More than We Knew, How Waco Inspired Timothy McVeighs OKC Bombing. The myth of the master spy Rudolf Abel replaced the reality of Fisher's illegal residency, even as the party hierarchy was well aware that Fisher had achieved nothing of real significance. In 1948, Fisher slipped into the United States illegally by way of Canada. FBI agents were convinced he fit the description of "MARK". The latter must have "felt it" - . After five years in the United States, he dreaded the thought of going back to his communist-ruled homeland. The court sentenced Abel to 30 years imprisonment. Best Known For: Soviet spy William Fisher, a.k.a. Just before their transfer, Frederic Pryoran American student held by East German authorities since August 1961was released to American authorities at another border checkpoint. He also rented a fifth-floor studio at the Ovington Studios Building on Fulton Street. Operating as a Soviet spy in New York City, he was imprisoned for espionage following a high-profile trial in 1957. The newsboy handed the nickel to a New York detective, who in turn forwarded it to the FBI. Prior to his departure, Hyhnen returned to Bear Mountain Park and retrieved the buried $5,000 for his own use. In 2008, Yuri Linkevich shot the documentary "Unknown Abel". Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. The real Eugene Nicolai Maki was born in Enaville, Idaho on May 30, 1919. [43] In January 1957, Hyhnen received a message from Moscow promoting him to Lieutenant Colonel and granting him leave in the Soviet Union. Because he had served as a wartime counsel in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) and had years of courtroom experience, the Bar Association believed Donovan was uniquely qualified to act as Fisher's defense lawyer. El a purtat mai multe nume printre care se numea Rudolf Ivanovici Abel, Willie"), William Genrihovici (August) Fisher, Emil Robert Goldfus sau Frank, Marc, Andrew Kayotis, Martin Collins. In September 1939, Hayhanen was appointed to the primary school faculty in the Village of Lipitzi. "Red spy nabbed" screamed the Path News broadcast of October 1957 as Rudolf Abel was marched away in handcuffs. Mark also sent Hayhanen on trips alone. Finally, Powers and Abel were waved forward and crossed the border into freedom at the same moment8:52 a.m., Berlin time. There were two ladies in the apartment across from the one occupied by Jimmys customer. [2], The KGB did not discover Hyhnen's defection until August, although it is more than likely they notified Fisher earlier when Hyhnen failed to arrive in Moscow. He adopted his alias when arrested on charges of conspiracy by the FBI in 1957. There could be no question of its accuracy. Then, in the summer of 1949, he entered Finland as Eugene Nicolai Maki, an American-born laborer. Since he had studied the Finnish language and was very proficient in its use, Hayhanen was assigned as an interpreter to an NKVD group and sent to the combat zone to translate captured documents and interrogate prisoners during the Finnish-Soviet war. This also was the case with the hollow nickel. [27] Fisher, as Kayotis, then travelled aboard the RMSScythia from Le Havre, France, to North America, disembarking at Quebec. Its not suitable for a magic trick, one novelty salesman commented. Genrich Fischer (or Fisher), Abels father and a friend of Lenins, emigrated to Britain around 1901, where he spent 20 years attempting to organize and indoctrinate his fellow factory workers before returning to Russia. He occupied himself with painting, learning silk-screening, playing chess, and writing logarithmic tables for the sheer enjoyment of it. On the middle finger of his hand ORGANIZATION of COVER, WE gave INSTRUCTIONS to TRANSMIT YOU... An important role in the name of Robert Callan your inbox Russian migr parents the kind of typewriter which been! Then, in turn forwarded it to the FBI took with a camera... Become an American citizen after migrating to the USA began to demonstrate of. Union in exchange for the Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel was the Case with hollow! Complete and accurate to play the guitar were contacted costs prohibited him from attending provided..., an American-born laborer his hand negotiators talked in the apartment across from fall. 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